Three time World champion Evgeni Plushenko decided not to force the preparation for this season. He will miss first Grand Prix Event, Skate America (It's a mistake. Maybe the journalist wanted to say that Evgeny will miss the Campbell, because Evgeny wasn't planned for the Skate America), that will be held in a month. It is not clear yet if he will compete at the next big event, Skate Canada. Last week, Plushenko participated in the test skate in Odincovo, where he presented his new programs:

Evgeny:I'm healthy and out of harm's way now. You know, my knees hurt, I had otitis, and pneumonia. When I came to Moscow, the first thing I did was going to ICU to see my doctors. They said that everything is OK, but I have to try not fly as much.
As of today, I and my coach Alexei Michin are deciding whether to go to Canada or not. Another event is still a question mark - NHK Trophy in Japan that starts four days after the Canada's event. I can tell you for now that I'll definetely perform at Russian Grand Prix event in Moscow in the end of November.

Question:You presented your new programs at test skates. Tell us about them.Evgeny:Both programs are choreographed by Sergei Petukhov. He is an amazing choreographer and wonderful person. We found the common ground with him very fast. I liked working with him very much, so I hope we will continue to collaborate in the future. You could've gotten familiar with his creativity by wathching performances of Bulgarian ice dancers Albena Denkova - Maxim Staijski as well as our pair Maria Petrova - Alexei Tikhonov. Sergei choreographed their programs.

Question:Who picked the music?Evgeny:All of us. I, Alexei Nikolaevich, and Sergei. The short program (note: the article says "original" program), is to the Moonlight Sonata, arranged for the guitar. Hungarian composer Edwin Marton who worked with us the last season wrote the music for the free program.

Question:Are you happy with how the season started?Evgeny:Everything goes as planned. I started to trained around July. I'm not in a rush, and I'm getting in shape on a slow pace. I am not doing quads, they are in the staging process. True, at the test skate, I decided to try a quad salchow. I was close to success. I have to work, and jump it more often. At Odincovoo, I did little when it comes to difficult elements. I'm stil working on my programs.

Question:Why didn't you do the quad toe loop that you always do, even at exhibitions.Evgeny:I do the quad toe loop easily for a long time, both at practices and performances. I've never done quad salchow in competition, so I decided to try.

Question:What do yo think of your performance?Evgeny:I think my performance in Odincovo was succesfull. The short program wasn't bad. Sometimes, you have to skate like that in front of the audience; it's very important early in the season. But, I wasn't ready for that skate. Moreover, I still don't have costumes for both short and long programs.